John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on 3 January 1892, in Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State (now Free State Province, part of South Africa). These days with The Hobbit movie it is important to remember him for his books! Yes he is the one who wrote The Hobbit!

If Tolkien was alive today he would celebrate his 121st birthda on January 3 2013. And because he lives on in our hearts we do celebrate his birthday every year!

To celebrate Tolkien's birthday, each year Tolkien fans around the world are invited to raise a glass and toast the birthday of this much loved author 21:00 (9 pm) your local time.

The toast is "The Professor". For those unfamiliar with British toast-drinking ceremonies: To make the Birthday Toast, you stand, raise a glass of your choice of drink (not necessarily alcoholic), and say the words "The Professor" before taking a sip (or swig, if that's more appropriate for your drink). Sit and enjoy the rest of your drink.

The Tolkien Society and celebrations world-wide

On 3rd January, Tolkien fans from across the world will join together to celebrate the Twelfty-First Birthday of the late Professor J.R.R. Tolkien CBE. Tolkien aficionados in Brazil, USA, Canada, Spain, Australia, Japan, Italy, and the Netherlands will be uniting with events up and down the UK to hold birthday parties in honour of J.R.R. Tolkien. In the UK events are going on in many cities, including Brighton, London, Oxford, Bristol, Milton Keynes, and York.

This is the 12th annual Birthday Toast and it will take place at 9pm on the 3rd January 2013. If you can't meet up then don't worry, you can leave your toast and wishes at the Tolkien Society Virtual Toast Guestbook.

The 2013 topic "The Hobbit"

This year, for Tolkien’s 121st birthday, the Tolkien Society is encouraging the public to read J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1937 book The Hobbit in light of the monumental success of Sir Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

This year’s Birthday Toast will tie together the man, the books and the films - the Society will be encouraging people to talk about all of these on Facebook, Twitter and on its website, www.tolkiensociety.org.

The Tolkien Society tradition of celebrating Tolkien’s birthday stems from Tolkien’s best-selling epic The Lord of the Rings. In the book, after Bilbo vanished on his eleventy-first birthday, Frodo continued to celebrate Bilbo’s birthday every single year.

About the Tolkien Society

The Tolkien Society was founded in 1969 dedicated to promoting the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien; J.R.R. Tolkien remains the Society’s Honorary President in perpetuo whilst his daughter, Priscilla, is the Society’s Honorary Vice President. J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa on 3rd January 1892 and died in Oxford on 2nd September 1973. He was the author of best-selling novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.